Soon after the test fit I pulled that axle back out, replaced several spots on the middle body mounts where they had deteriorated and the holes were oblong and the material was thin, and went about putting paint on it all. I went with 2 coats of POR15 then two coats of black tractor paint.. some oil based enamel from Tractor Supply.

Then I removed the D30 for the rest of the blasting and painting, as well as the sway bar.

While all this was going on I had been online in my non-work and non-jeep and non-girlfriend hours, maybe minutes, and ordered a replacement OEM skid plate since mine was trash. It got blasted and painted. The hood got some sandblast and por15 love too.

I also modified the sway bar with some homemade disconnects which I have since lost faith in, that story is coming up.

That pinion angle looks insane! Theres some gurus around here that can help with that. Me on the other hand, have no idea.

I've since gotten an SYE and modified cherokee shaft and welded the perches in as close to where I figured it should have been angle-wise. Just crazy the PC 2.5 lift springs and 3/4 (i think) shackles had it that far lifted.

Once the paint was dried I started putting things back together. I decided to do away with the sensor on top of the 8.8, so the tabs were cut off, the sensor unbolted, and I cut off a couple carriage bolts and welded them in to cap the holes.

After the axles were back under it I removed the old skid plate, I had to patch the frame when two of the captive nuts were rusted loose. I then put a bit of POR15 and tractor paint after cleaning the rest of the contact areas between the skid and frame of rust and dirt.

Somewhere along the line I read about the supposed gain in fuel capacity by removing a large portion of one of the tubes. It was a slow night, not ready to start the next major part of the project but not ready to go home and sleep so I decided to go for it. I got the tube out with some effort. The tank had been almost empty when I brought it home and still hasn't been filled so I havn't been able to check results yet.

Once the jeep was back on its wheels I decided to see about putting the tub back on. I went out, pulled the tarp off the tub sitting on the trailer.. looked at it for 5 minutes... put the tarp back on. I didn't want to put that rusted out piece of crap put back on the chassis I spent so much time making like new. I went and looked around and ended up getting a replacement tub from Simpson Family Jeeps. It actually used to be Neil's jeep, a 1995, but he had decided to part it out. I helped him tear it down, dropped off my old tub, loaded it on the trailer, and brought it home. (this is where 1991 gets it's 'ish') Before doing any welding I sandblasted as much as looked necessary to get rid of the rust, then used some degreaser, stiff bristle brush, and warm water to get the grease and road grime off.

I had already been planning to put a family bar in, and had bought one off Neil, but to save time I left that with him and we left the roll bar in the replacement 95 tub. The tub was in overall decent shape, only missing the driver side floor - minor damage for the toxic mess they clear the roads with around here. I've heard they take it right out of the overflow brine tanks on the local gas wells. In any case, it's alot more fixable than my old tub that really had no remaining body mounts because of the same sort of rot.

Once I got the tub to the garage I set it on its side and prepared to weld in a new floor. I decided to purchase one of the stamped ones off ebay for the inside, then seeing what was left on the bottom I made another to seal that side up as well.

These pics show the larger patches that were welded in, there were plenty of smaller ones filling around the edges due to all the curves.

While the tub was up on it's side I repaired the body mounts which had been damaged or that had broken bolts. I cut them out, welded a nut on the back, and welded them back in.

Once all the body mounts were welded back in I sprayed the entire underside with 93% zinc cold-galvanizing paint - several coats. I figure it'll make a decent experiment on rust-proofing as the zinc is supposed to be a sacrificial coating, corroding away before the steel.

You guys up north have way too much time and or money on your hands. That jeep would have hit the junk pile. We got a lot of good ( NO RUST ) models down here that we can just start building rigs instead of fixing rust.

nice build! looking good! your frame was way further gone than mine, kudo's for bringing it back. good call on swapping the tub. what are you going to do for a gas tank cross member? now I'm in for the sub

You guys up north have way too much time and or money on your hands. That jeep would have hit the junk pile. We got a lot of good ( NO RUST ) models down here that we can just start building rigs instead of fixing rust.

I guess there has been some money spent, but not near what it would be if I had to pay someone to do the work. The steel I'm using is mostly stuff Dad or I have set aside for future use so little to no cost there. It has been a decent amount of time invested but it kept me busy through the late summer/early fall when I was laid off. It's a different point of view but some things are worth fixing rather than throwing out.

nice build! looking good! your frame was way further gone than mine, kudo's for bringing it back. good call on swapping the tub. what are you going to do for a gas tank cross member? now I'm in for the sub

Thanks for the compliments. I ended up using a piece of 2x2x1/8" tube, then welded angle to it and the rear one with holes to bolt the gas tank skid into... that's coming up.

So back to the story... In early July I was about done with the tub and decided it was time to put the jeep back together. I was pulling the frame with the 4-wheeler to get it turned around when the strap broke and it went rolling down the hill. I managed to rub the tire enough with the wheeler to get it to miss the telephone pole before it hit the ditch. I then got my truck and a good strap and pulled it back up the hill. The right front spring was slightly bent, now I'm not sure if I'll just replace that one pack or go to something in the 4" range with better quality.

I had picked up a used set of 33x12.5x15 BFGs on steel d-windows which you can seen in these pics, also scored a set of 4 rims that match them on craigslist for $50. There will probably be some powder coating and new mud tires on 5 of the rims this spring.

Once the frame was in position and the tub was lifted I rolled it back in and set up for the rear body mounts to be installed along with the new gas tank crossmember. There was probably about a dozen lifts made to fit, weld, check, clean, paint, etc before I eventually had everything pinned down. I used a 120v warn winch with straps connecting the hook to the fender support mounts on each side of the front, and a cheap HF strap crank winch to lift up the back by the rear seat brackets (not the best idea, it'll bend the floor).

The tub is set back on the frame, the 6 body mounts available all match and fit. Time to scrape off the decals and get ready for paint.

The gas tank crossmember midway through install, after this pic the rear 4 body mounts were reinforced and welded.

My nephew was up for the weekend and I had to keep an eye on him so I put him to work. I was working on the crossmember/gas tank mounting while he was sanding. I gave him the required PPE but he had no interest in welding or being within 30 feet of it... hopefully he grows out of that. He has since decided that he will have a jeep as well.

Nice build so far. It all looks very familiar...even the ratchet straps around the rafters to hold up the tub. Gotta love PA jeeps and all the rust we get.

Thanks. I was happy to have the electric winch to lift the front, made things a little easier. That PA rust is exactly why I plan to leave this thing parked in the winters... I've put too much work into it to let it get dissolved again.

Time to continue, got distracted for a bit but here's some more of the build...

So now after the entire tub was sanded inside and out and I painted the firewall with a couple coats of POR15 and enamel. In the first pic the drivers rocker shows some repairs done years ago, looked like it had been in an accident at some point. It's missing the 'Jeep' stamp on that side. I put some fiberglass over the area and smoothed it till I was satisfied then moved on to the rest of the coating.

Around this time I ordered online my speaker pods and marine head unit (AM/FM/aux). I went with the VDP roll bar pods and ordered the wrong color. Ended up painting them black to match the rest of the interior.

While I was looking at where to run wires I found the parking brake bracket had broken, this was shoved back into place and welded back on.

Now It was time to paint. I suppose it could have been done in a different order and saved some time with masking new paint off, but it was too late by the time I got going. I put the tub onto a trailer, on blocks so it was higher than the rails, so I could pull it outside to paint and put it back inside to let it cure between coats. The paint was Rustoleum 'Gloss Sand', which I thinned with acetone something like 4 parts paint to 1 part thinner, then threw some japan drier in to help it dry faster. The paint was sprayed through hplv (hvlp?) guns I had picked up at home depot in a kit, it worked pretty well with the little compressor I was using. I also ran a cheap harborfreight dessicant air dryer midline for good measure. This is the first attempt I've made at painting a vehicle since I was 15 and rattle-canned my sisters mercury bobcat (pinto) red... I think this turned out much better.

Once the outside of the tub and most of the other bits were painted I went about masking off the new paint so I could roll in my Monstaliner. I think it turned out ok aside from some runs in a spot I can live with. When the directions say prep one day then roll in the next... it's a good idea.

So now everything, or most of it anyways, is painted. When I painted the tub I also did the hood, windshield frame, half doors, seat risers, and most of the other small stuff. So the windshield got put back on and I kinda got ahead of myself with the roll bar not repainted yet. So I masked the whole thing off again and painted the rollbar with rattlecan rustoleum black. Somewhere in this mess the wiring reinstallation was started.. I had worked out a deal with a friend - outboard a scramblers front springs in exchange for help with the wiring.

When I went to reinstall the door pins I found the part that holds the actual pin was cracked on both, rusty, and faded. I ordered new ones from CSE Offroad. When the pins arrived they had sent two of one side and none of the other, I called them and they sent a correct one right away and told me just to keep the duplicate they had sent me.

Then I drilled and tapped the lower half of the windshield hinges for the CJ style mirrors. I decided to go with stainless hardware in several areas to prevent rust. Placement was guesswork but I think it went alright.

A pic of the painted rollbar...

So now I start the fabrication of the rocker plates. I have a local shop that sells steel, pipe, and general welding supplies - tractors too. So I took measurements and ordered 3/16 plate, 6" (i think) wide and 54" long, two of em. Also a 10' piece of 1 1/2" wide 3/16" thick strap, and 20 feet of pipe for the step/rail portion on these. Here's the start of fitting..

I just ran a fillet with the strap and plate edges at 90* to each other. Then ground them smooth.

Here's the back end where the Smittybilt rear corner wrap overlapped it. Not sure why they put that sideburn looking part at the bottom there but it got lopped off. I then traced the shape of the front edge of the wheel opening onto the back side of the rocker plate. The plate was then cut off to match.

While in this process I noticed the part of the corner wrap that follows the door opening.. didn't follow the opening. So I clamped them back to back and ground the non-matching parts to match.

Then I tacked up the pipe after I had made the miter cuts with a cutting wheel and a vise. Cutting round stuff without a decent vise really sucks and is dangerous, I don't recommend it.

Then I welded.

Now that my heavy stuff is getting in position I started preparing to get the drivetrain put back together. I had hired out the installation of my SYE. I got it back from being installed and one of the bolt locations looked like it had a broken bolt that someone had tried to drill. I thought I'd take advantage of their work and ran a spiral extractor into it.. the broken drilled bolt turned out to be a plastic insert of some sort and it blew out the side of that mounting location.

I then procured another case half and sent the TC back to have the guts swapped into the new half.